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TORONTO - Masai Ujiri has officially taken the next step, a rather bold one at that, in the inevitable rebuild of his Toronto Raptors. [url=http://www.authenticthunderauthority.com/kevin-durant-thunder-jerse y-c-5/]Kevin Durant Jersey[/url] . The Raptors announced the completion of a seven-player swap

TORONTO - Masai Ujiri has officially taken the next step, a rather bold one at that, in the inevitable rebuild of his Toronto Raptors. Kevin Durant Jersey . The Raptors announced the completion of a seven-player swap Monday, officially sending rental star Rudy Gay to Sacramento along with the seldom used Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy in exchange for guard Greivis Vasquez, swingman John Salmons and forwards Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes, a deal first reported by Yahoo Sports Sunday evening. In just over six months on the job, the Raptors general manager has quickly made his presence felt, as expected after he inherited Bryan Colangelos roster back in May. It didnt take him long to jettison maligned forward Andrea Bargnani - the face of the Colangelo era - to New York and with Mondays transaction he bid farewell to Gay, his predecessors second marquee mistake. Ujiri has made his statement. This team is now his to build as he sees fit. How he plans to do that still remains unclear, despite adding a pair of necessary, albeit significant transactions to his already impressive resume. "I couldnt tell you where the team is going to go from here," Ujiri said, addressing the local media at the Air Canada Centre for the first time since the trade was made official late Monday afternoon. "Sometimes you have to make a change." "I know people speculate different things on the direction," he said, referring to the elephant in the room; the T-word (tank) that has been hovering over this team like a black cloud long before he accepted the gig in Toronto. "We made a move that creates certainty." Looking at Ujiris resume - his early returns at the helm of the Raptors and his time spent in Denver - theres an obvious trend that has defined his brief, yet mostly successful career as a lead NBA executive. The Raptors GM leaves as little to chance as humanly possible. Time and time again he has taken his teams fate out of the collective hands of his players and into his own. More than anything else he values flexibility. When it appeared Carmelo Anthony was destined to hold the Nuggets hostage in free agency Ujiri flipped the script, waiting patiently and parlaying Denvers best player into more manageable assets. On Sunday he did the same with Gay, a player attached to a contract - like Bargnani - that many believed could not be moved. Although Gay can opt out of the final year of his deal at the end of the season, it seems impossible to imagine him walking away from the $19.3 million hes owed in his option year while hes mired in the worst statistical campaign of his career. Naturally, the Raptors front office had safely just assumed the forward would be on their books next year, eating up a sizeable portion of their payroll, hampering their ability to plan ahead. "That option was tough on our part," Ujiri admitted, citing the uncertainty of Gays contract as a motivating factor behind the deal, it left them in limbo he said. "That option really put us in a tough position to plan." Therein lies Ujiris fundamental goal as he continues to dismantle a disjointed unit; attaining the roster and financial flexibility necessary to build on the fly. He executed it to perfection in Denver, remaining competitive and even improving as a team after the Anthony trade when many believed the Nuggets were poised to bottom out. Ujiri wont use the T-word. He detests the word and what it represents. But he also insists the organization wont "be stuck in no-mans land." He cant have it both ways, not unless he can pull off something remarkable and duplicate the award-winning magic he performed in Denver. Barring a complete tear down - which remains possible but still seems unlikely - the Raptors are still too good to bottom out, as many expect they will. Exchanging Gay and his contract for the Kings quartet was a stroke of genius. Toronto can save roughly $12 million next season if Salmons is bought out for $1 million and the team renounces its rights to Vasquez and Patterson. Still, the move gives us little-to-no indication on the direction Ujiri intends to take. Both trades - Gay and Bargnani - were about ridding the team of expendable pieces that just didnt fit, not dumping star players in an outward attempt to be bad. On the contrary. The absence of Gay, his high usage rates and his inefficiency could and likely will make them a better team. "It just didnt work out," Ujiri said of Gays 10-month tenure in Toronto. "I think it was just a chemistry [issue] with the team. I think everybody saw there was no sync there." So now we wait. We wait for Ujiris next move and the consensus around the team, around the league, is that it wont be long. Gay will not be the last domino to fall and the GMs subsequent moves should, in theory, tip his hand. Everyone on this roster is available, at the right price. Would Ujiri be willing to listen to offers for Jonas Valanciunas? Is DeMar DeRozan safe now that the similar Gay has been dealt, or do you sell high on what appears to be an emerging star at his position? Is Kyle Lowry the next to go, as most expect? And what of Amir Johnson, who should be a valuable trade chip as the deadline approaches? In moving Gay, and Bargnani, Ujiri has already done most of the heavy lifting. Now the Raptors GM has options, and he wouldnt have it any other way. Doug McDermott Jersey . -- The Oakland Raiders added a veteran presence to their young receiving group by signing free agent James Jones to a three-year contract Monday. Gary Payton Jersey . Just as the meeting was beginning, Major League Baseball unveiled Rule 7.13, an experimental rule for the 2014 season aimed at eliminating what the league calls “egregious” runner/catcher collisions at home plate. http://www.authenticthunderauthority.com/customized-c-4/ . Nothing pretty. But this is 1/4 World Cup. Usually plays out this way.TORONTO -- To prepare his players for the biggest game of their lives, Raptors coach Dwane Casey borrowed from the 2011 NBA champion Dallas Mavericks. "I go back to my experience. (Mavericks coach) Rick Carlisle has a thing, Wipe off the blackboard. Just wipe it off," said Casey, an assistant under Carlisle on that 2011 Mavs squad. "Nothing on the blackboard is really going to make a difference at this time of year. At this game, Game 7, its mental." The Raptors host the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday in a game that will either advance them into the second round of the post-season for just the second time in the franchises 19-year history, or send them home. Sundays winner faces the two-time NBA defending champion Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals beginning Tuesday in Miami. By wiping the blackboard, Casey trusts the Raptors that have scraped and clawed to so many huge wins in this unexpected season of success wont go down without a fight Sunday. The coach likens his team to Freddie Krueger -- the unkillable villain from "A Nightmare on Elm Street" movies and a name Casey has mentioned after virtually every unlikely victory this season. "Its our approach," Casey said Saturday. "Its our toughness. Its our persistence on getting open. Our persistence in defending. Our persistence in going for loose balls, rebounds. Thats what this game is going to be about." Casey had the Raptors at the Air Canada Centre for a long session Saturday, the morning after a woeful 97-83 loss to the Nets in Game 6 at Brooklyn. In a series that has been feisty since before the first ball was even thrown up, Nets centre Andray Blatche fired the latest shot Saturday night. "We guarantee were going to go there and take care of business and go to Miami," Blatche told reporters at Barclays Center. The Raptors shrugged off the comment. "I dont care what he said," said Raptors all-star DeMar DeRozan. "He can say what he wants, honestly. He can go out there and say hes going to hit the lottery tomorrow, I could give a hell." Raptors backup guard Greivis Vasquez added: "I dont know who does he think he is. Hes not KG (Kevin Garnett) or Paul Pierce or Jason Kidd. Were not going to listen to his nonsense. Hes gotta earn that, and he hasnt yet." Vasquez said the Raptors are focused only on themselves, and with good reason. They could have closed out the series Friday night, but instead slogged out to their worst opening quarter of the series Saturday night, and trailed by as much as 26 points. Once again, Casey showed his players video footage of the bouncing and cheering mass of fans that turned out to watch the game at Maple Leaf Square. "This is what youre playing for," Casey told them. While the vastly-inexperienced Raptors battled nerves early on in the quarter-final series, Casey would have liked to have seen some Friday night. "I wanted nerves in the first quarter because we came out like we were in never-never-land," the coach said. "We want the passion. We want the feelings. I dont mind nerves because a couple of times up and down the floor you get hit, you get knocked down, those nerves go away. "Weve just got to come out with a stronger constitution out of the locker-room. Terrance Ferguson Jersey. " DeRozan, who has shone in his first-ever play appearance, said theres more pressure on the Nets. Brooklyn assembled a star-studded squad with its sights set on an NBA title, signing all-stars Pierce and Garnett in the off-season. "Yeah, man. We aint got no 100 million, whatever payroll they got," DeRozan said -- the figure is actually US$180 million-plus with payroll and taxes. "Hey, thats all on them. At the end of the day they have more to lose than us." The Raptors know that this season will be considered a success even if they dont make it to the second round. They were all but written off when the season began, and played to the low expectations until the blockbuster seven-player deal in December that sent Rudy Gay to Sacramento. The turnaround was remarkable. They went on to win their second Atlantic Division title, earning the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. The players -- the majority of whom had little to no playoff experience when this series began -- are soaking up every moment of their post-season run. "Honestly, this is what you live for, man -- to play and be in moments like this, honestly, because they last forever," DeRozan said. "Memories like that are going to last way after Im finished playing so youve definitely got to take advantage of it and understand youve got to go out there and play youre A-game." Vasquez was asked how exciting it is to play a Game 7 at home. "See, thats the best question," he replied. "Thats the best question. Were in a position right now to really make a solid push and then shut everybody up. You dont have to talk about our experience or anything like that, were going to get it done. "This is what you dream about. Thats when you go play at the park, you think about Game 7 against those guys. Its just fun." Chuck Hayes, acquired in the Sacramento trade, has played in two Game 7s with the Houston Rockets. The Rockets lost them both, and he talked to the team about playing with that win-or-go-home urgency and energy. "You should be exhausted by the time the game is over with," Hayes said. "You should be exhausted every timeout because the intensity is going to be risen, the atmosphere, everything. You probably wont even be able to hear yourself think. Its a fun experience though." DeRozan, who likes to go to the Air Canada Centre to shoot baskets late at night, said he planned to head home after practice Saturday and have a nap. Hed then watch Friday nights Game 6 again, and "get mentally ready for (Sunday)." Vasquez, a father of two children, said he would spend Saturday night relaxing with his family to take his mind off the game. "I dont really like thinking about the game, like Ahhh, putting so much pressure on myself," he said. "I think when you relax and let the game come to you -- obviously, you focus, you get your rest, you watch other NBA games -- thats the way I do it. "Im not going to lie, its a big game. Ive been in a Game 7 before to go in the conference finals and that was one of the best experiences I ever had. And (Sunday), I know for sure its going to be the best game of my life." Cheap NFL JerseysWholesale JerseysWholesale NFL JerseysJerseys From ChinaWholesale NFL JerseysCheap NFL JerseysCheap Jerseys ' ' '